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Category Archives: Talmud
A History of the Talmud
Here are some highlights from this 2019 book by the librarian at JTS: * Before the first century of the common era, Judaism was, with variations, biblical Judaism, a Judaism defined by the library of books that had been accepted … Continue reading
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TabletMag: HOW JEWS SHOULD DEAL WITH GENTILES – According to this week’s ‘Daf Yomi’ Talmud study, as little as possible
Adam Kirsch writes: The nominal subject of Tractate Avoda Zara is idol worship, one of the worst sins in Judaism. But as Daf Yomi readers complete our third week of studying this tractate, it is becoming clear that the real … Continue reading
Tabletmag: ‘BRINGING ‘DAF YOMI’ TO LIFE. AND VICE VERSA.’
Beth Kissileff writes: One frustration in reading a memoir about life in Israel is a total absence of a mention of Arabs and others who live there. Nonetheless, part of the liveliness of Kurshan’s memoir comes from her life in … Continue reading
Tabletmag: Daf Yomi: Interpreters of ancient Jewish law ‘often give the impression of doing whatever needs to be done to make the Bible mean what they want it to mean’
No constitution can cover ever exigency. Survival must preempt fidelity to text. A Torah is not a death warrant. The sovereign is he who decides the state of exception, notes Carl Schmitt. In Orthodox Judaism, the leading rabbis of the … Continue reading
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Babylonian Talmud is now free online in English and Modern Hebrew translation
Talmud link here. Tabletmag.com: One of the most accessible Hebrew and English translations of the Babylonian Talmud is going open source. Today, Sefaria, an online nonprofit bringing traditional Jewish texts to the internet, announced that it will be posting the … Continue reading
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The Talmudic Argument For a More Ethical Financial System
Jon Lukomnik writes: It takes some chutzpah to write a book that takes on the whole financial system, let alone a plan to fix it. But that’s the task my co-authors and I undertook in writing “What They Do With … Continue reading
Jewish Racial Purity
Adam Kirsch writes about tractate Kiddushin, the current portion of the Talmud studied in the daily practice of “Daf Yomi” — a folio page of Talmud a day: …21st-century geneticists discovered what they called the Cohen Modal Haplotype, a set … Continue reading
Becoming the People of the Talmud: Oral Torah as Written Tradition in Medieval Jewish Cultures by Talya Fishman
“Zachary Braiterman teaches modern Jewish thought and philosophy in the Department of Religion at Syracuse University.” He writes: About a year ago, I penned online at Zeek Magazine a vicious attack on the Tikvah Fund and the Jewish Review of … Continue reading
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The Talmud Does Not Permit Sex With A Three Year Old
I’ve gone through most of the Talmud and these passages are the most disturbing to me. What I have to keep in mind is that they are discussing dowries and financial arrangements, not permitted sex. Written by Gil Student: The … Continue reading
Has The Republican Race Hit Bottom?
Nothing Donald J. Trump has said in public is one-tenth as shocking as statements you will find in the Torah tradition. Media commentators have said that the Republican race hit bottom when Trump defended the size of his penis. Well, … Continue reading
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